Turkey asylum agreement

Around a fifth of the Syrian asylum seekers who are proposed for asylum in the Netherlands through the so-called Turkey-deal, are rejected because of extremist sympathies or because their ideals are not in line with Dutch values, Paul van Musscher, national portfolio holder for foreign affairs and migration crime at the police, said to the Volkskrant.

VVD leader and current Prime Minister Mark Rutte does not see a breakthrough happening in the government formation talks any time soon. In fact, he worries that new elections may be necessary, he said in a live session the VVD hosted on Facebook on Wednesday afternoon, NU.nl reports.

While GroenLinks leader Jesse Klaver's firm stance on not making deals with north African countries on asylum seekers may have annoyed many of the other party leaders, his commitment to his his ideals impressed local GroenLinks factions and gained praise from a number of migration experts, including a professor at Radboud university.

For now the Netherlands does not have to take in asylum seekers from overcrowded asylum camps in Greece at an accelerated pace, the court in The Hague ruled on Friday in a lawsuit filed by activist group We Gaan Ze Halen (We Will Fetch Them) against the Dutch State, AD reports.

According to the group, the Netherlands is taking in too few asylum seekers from Greece. But the court ruled that the Netherlands has until September to meet its commitments on asylum intake.

Turkey is turning to the European Court of Human Rights in its political battle with the Netherlands, president Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced on Monday. He also announced a number of sanctions against the Netherlands, including that Dutch diplomats are no longer welcome in Turkey, NU.nl reports.

In 2016 the Netherlands received a total of 31,642 asylum applications, according to figures from the immigration and naturalization service IND. That is nearly half lower than the 58,900 applications received in 2015, NOS reports.

Many Dutch are concerned about the perceived growing gaps between different parts of society in the Netherlands, according to a survey Ipsos did for broadcaster NOS. The vast majority of Dutch are concerned about growing differences between Muslims and non-Muslims in the Netherlands.

The agreement between Turkey and the European Union on the reception of asylum seekers, which Prime Minister Mark Rutte pushed for earlier this year, "will not be possible" if the EU does not comply with the promised visa exemption for Turks, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said to French media on Monday

The asylum agreement between Turkey and the European Union seems to be bearing its first fruits. Since the agreement took effect last month, only 101 Syrians submitted their first application for asylum in the Netherlands - a much lower number than the 5,249 Syrian applications received at the peak in October last year

Turkey almost complies to all requirements for visa free travel within the European Union, the European Commission announced on Wednesday. According to EU Commissioner and vice-president Frans Timmermans, the country "has made impressive progress, particularly in recent weeks"

Europe will not be "blackmailed" by Turkey's threat to terminate the asylum agreement with the EU if the visa requirement for Turks is not lifted quickly, European Commissioner Frans Timmermans said to German newspaper De Zeit.

State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff of Security and Justice was faced with riots during a visit to a asylum camp on the Greek island of Lesbos on Tuesday. Asylum seekers threw stones while shouting "freedom" and "open borders"

On Tuesday Dutch journalist Ebru Umar published her first column in Metro Nieuws following her arrest in Turkey on Saturday. She lashes out against Dutch-Turks, who she blames for her being stuck in Turkey.

Defense Minister Jeanine Hennis Plasschaert wants an extension for NATO's anti-human trafficking mission on the Aegean Sea. The mission is set to end over three months, "but leaving in July would be really premature", Hennis said to broadcaster NOS during a visit to the area.

The first Syrian asylum seekers from Turkish refugee camps were flown to the Netherlands on Tuesday morning. The 31 people were transferred to a Dutch asylum center to await housing, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Security and Justice said to news wire ANP.

The first group of Syrian asylum seekers from Turkey will arrive in the Netherlands on Tuesday, the European Commission announced on Monday. These are "recognized asylum seekers" that EU member states agreed to take in as part of the asylum agreement with Turkey, which took effect on Monday.

Four humanitarian groups wrote a scathing letter about the asylum deal the European Union wants to make with Turkey to Prime Minister Mark Rutte. "Not borders, but people must be protected", they write. "It is time for Europe to put human rights central again."

After much grumbling and arguing, the Tweede Kamer - the lower house of Dutch parliament - agreed to let Prime Minister Mark Rutte go to a summit in Brussels to negotiate a deal with the Turks on a joint approach to the refugee crisis

The asylum agreement between Turkey and the European Union must halve the number of asylum seekers coming to the Netherlands. If that does not happen, other alternatives will be looked at, State Secretary Klaas Dijkhoff said to the lower house of Dutch parliament on Wednesday

Europe must be prepared to take in "substantial" numbers of asylum seekers from Turkey on an annual basis. The Netherlands should take in about 30 thousand a year, PvdA leader Diederik Samsom said on radio program Met het Oog op Morgen on Radio 1.

Prime Minister Mark Rutte and German Chancellor Angela Merkel met with Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday night. The three had dinner together in the Turkish embassy in Brussels to prepare for the European summit on the refugee crisis scheduled for Monday afternoon, a spokesperson for the Dutch EU Presidency confirmed